What We All Must Face
by Ano-chan
Summary: It's hard to face what we hide away from the world...


_We are just stories, so here's mine to tell..._

Don't own the Persona series of games.

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><p>How long had he been here?<p>

That thought managed to reach the front of his mind as he wandered the confusing floor for what felt like the hundredth time. It was a strange maze of bookshelves, stuffed with books with paper that had faded to yellow long ago. He had tried to trick himself into thinking that he was making progress, but it was an obvious lie, he could almost recognize every shelf he passed, their unique shapes and books seemed glaringly obvious to him, which had brought the question to his mind.

He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten, or even slept, just a series of walking through the maze. Once, he'd pulled out a book to see if it had any useful information, but creepily enough, the book had been a story, a story about him. It followed his life, starting in high school, seeming to highlight everything he regretted, his stupid mistakes, the girls he could have talked to, but chose not to. Shocked, he had thrown it to the ground, but it had not stayed, passing by the case again later, it had returned to the shelf. Curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had tried several other books. They were the same, except that they followed different points in his life, from childhood, when he would cry and run to his mother, to right now, chronically his useless attempts to understand the endless maze he was stuck in.

Giving up on the books had allowed him to become more aware of his surroundings, or more specifically, that it was covered in a thick fog that settled over the carpeted floor. It was strange that he had managed to miss that, but he chocked it up to lack of food and sleep. But, now that he noticed, he couldn't ignore it, and began to see other things scurrying through it. Black things, shaped like blobs, slithering through the room. He had attempted to follow one at one point, thinking that it may know a way out, but as he did, it seemed to become aware of him, stopping and turning its glowing red eyes on him. At that sight, he became so terrified that he turned and ran, and when he finally stopped, out of breath, it hadn't followed him.

Still, even that had not been the most terrifying he'd stumbled across here. Slumping against a shelf, he'd closed his eyes to try and sleep. Nothing had happened, he was exhausted, but sleep wouldn't come. Giving up, he opened his eyes to see...

Himself

It was a mirror image of himself, except that his eyes were colored a devious yellow and he had a condescending grin spread over his face. He jumped up, slamming the back of his head of the bookshelf, but when his vision had refocused, the clone had vanished. It wasn't the last he'd seen of it though. Every time he would stop to relax, to catch his breath, he would catch that smiling face out of the corner of his eye, and he forced himself to keep moving. Once, a mocking laugh, his laugh, had echoed through the maze. Because of the clone, he hadn't stopped moving for what felt like days.

Suddenly, he noticed that things were...clearer somehow. Looking down he realized that the fog had begun to clear. He had no idea what that meant, but it gave him an idea, a new path to follow. Turning to a bookshelf, he held out his arm and push on it. Slowly, it began to pivot, turning until it revealed an open walkway. Walking into it, the shelf slid back into place with an ominous thud. Going forward, wary of what may be waiting for him, he entered into an area with no bookshelves, an open room surrounded by four plain gray walls. In the center was a lone pedestal, a brand new book laying on it, bound with a bright blue cover. Leaning against the pedestal, one hand lazily leaning on the book, was his clone, the smile still on his face.

"So, about time you made it here," the clone told him, shaking it's head a bit. It's voice was his, partially. It reverberates, as if there were two people talking at once.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, quickly looking around the room, hoping the exit might be hidden somewhere.

"Oh stop that. You're still looking for a way out? You've been walking through here for days, you know there isn't one!" the clone admonished.

"There was a way in here, there has to be a way out," he rationalized, it was what he'd been telling himself the whole time, the phrase that had helped to keep him moving.

"You can't rationalize everything, sometimes things simply don't make any sense," the clone replied, shrugging.

"There has to be a way out, to think otherwise would be to give up," he stated defiantly, the clone merely laughed.

"Why not? You do that plenty already," the clone countered.

"Shut up, what do you know? Who are you anyway?" he asked angrily, which surprised him, he hardly ever got angry this easily.

"Oh, I'd love to tell you, but not yet, I think we'll need an audience for this," when he tried to reply, the clone help up it's hand, silencing him, "wait, they're almost here." The two of them stood still for a few moment, before a powerful crashing noise heralded the entrance of a group of people. Looking at the group, he was surprised to see that he actually recognized some of them. The leader was an exchange student from the beginning of the year, he only really knew him because of his strangely gray hair. Behind him were several people he had seen while wandering the halls of his school, but what drew his attention was what looked like a guy in a bear costume, wielding a set of razor sharp wolverine claws.

"Good, just what you wanted," the clone observed, pulling his attention away from the newcomers.

"What are you talking about, explain yourself!" he shouted.

"I look like you, I know your desires, isn't it obvious? I am you! I am your shadow, a voice for all of your fears and desires. And with them here, you have someone to whine to," the clone's grin grew even wider. The newcomers stepped forward, their weapons at the ready, but the clone, his shadow, continued, uncaring.

"Second year of high school and I'm already worried about the future. I don't know what I want to do with my life, what should I do?" his shadow mocked.

"Shut up, I don't want them to hear this!" he complained.

"Liar! You've always wanted to someone you could to tell your problems to, someone to tell you it would be okay, but you always chickened out. 'Telling them won't change anything, it's better to leave them alone, better to just stay alone.' Especially with girls, you never try to get close to them, 'if you don't bet, you can never lose,' you're afraid to take any chances with you life!"

"You're lying!"

"Wrong again, the truth is all around you. These books are full of your past, full of your failures, and you did nothing to escape them! You are stuck in the past, you wandered this floor simply hoping that things would eventually change on their own. I had to force you to come here to find this," the shadow gestured to the book on the pedestal.

"And what exactly is that book?" he asked, frustrated. He was surprised the group of people hadn't stepped in to do anything, they seemed to be waiting for something to happen.

"Your future, the one book here you've avoided, the one you're afraid of. You're afraid of change, of the future, but you don't know how to stop it, and I am sick of your weakness. Either make a decision, or just shut up and die!" the smile was gone from his shadow's face, only contempt remained.

"You don't know anything! You're-" at this the other group finally stepped forward.

"Wait," offered one of the girls, he remembered from the news, something about running an inn, "you can't reject it, if you do, it'll attack and try to kill you. I know it's hard but...you have to accept it, accept that it really is you," she offered a weak smile as reassurance. Turning away from her, he faced his shadow, a look of anger covering it's face.

"Just accept you, and you'll go away? Fine, you...are me...right?" his shadow merely stared at him, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't think so, you're not taking the easy way out here, I won't let you!" with those words darkness began to congeal around his shadow who began laughing. Soon, nothing was left but a black void while the laughter echoed eerily throughout the room. As the blackness cleared, it revealed a monster that no longer resembled him.

It was a vaguely human shape, dressed in a brown cloak, but it was hunched over, countless chains wrapped around its body. However, the chains were not attached to weights, but simple books, books he recognized as the ones from the shelves, the ones of his past.

"I am a shadow, the true self. I'll make sure that nothing in my life will change, and I'll kill anyone who gets in my way," the creature announced, lifting its gaze to stare at him. There was no face under the cloak, just a void. The creature began to glow red, and without warning a fire ball was launched at him.

He didn't have a chance to move, all he could do was close his eyes and wait for the inevitable. But the attack never came. Opening his eyes, he saw the exchange student standing defiantly in front of him, the golf club held like a sword. The exchange student opened his hand and resting in it was a glowing blue card.

"Izanagi!" he called, crushing the card in his hand. The glow from the card began to grow and a black creature arose from it. Wielding a large sword, the creature rushed forward and slashed at the shadow, knocking it back with a clattering of chains.

What followed was a battle he couldn't even begin to describe, it didn't make any sense to him. Each kid from the group stepped forward, summoning their own creatures to battle his shadow. But his shadow wouldn't go down easily, it countered with waver of fire, ice, and electricity, even spinning around at one point, slamming the books that served as its weights into each member of the party. But it could not stand against the onslaught of power, and it finally collapsed, the chains and cloak dissolving away until the original shadow was all that remained.

"That showed it," muttered one of them, a punk by the looks of his hair and tattoos, he even had a chair resting on his shoulder for a weapon.

"Yeah, but he still has to accept it, or it'll just attack again," this from a girl with short hair and dressed in a long green sweater.

"I did accept it, that didn't help at all," he replied, still in shock from the battle.

"You can't accept it just so it will leave you alone," this was from the leader, his voice was surprisingly calm, "you have to accept that it is a part of you, that what it said...was true," with all of their gazes on him, it seemed he had no choice except to go to his shadow.

Walking towards it, his shadow slowly brought itself back to a standing position. The looks of anger and contempt were gone from its face, now it just seemed...tired. Looking at it now, without it's mocking words and face, with the other students standing encouragingly behind him, he got a feeling of what existence for his shadow was like.

This was what he forced all his troubles and worries onto, where all the emotions he feared to express were hidden. This creature lived knowing nothing but anger and shame, with an existence like that, of course it would hate him.

"Fine, you need me to admit it? Then you're right...I am afraid of the future, of any change in my life. I don't know what I want to do, what I should do. Even with girls...I never tell a girl that I care for her, because then what? I don't what to do after that, and it scares me..." his shadow made no reply, simply staring at him, as if it was awaiting more.

"But there is one thing you missed...I want to change, I want to be...better," he was suddenly very aware that everyone else was listening to him, "but to do that...I need you, I need your strength. Help me, and I'll try to make things easier for you. I'll reach for the future," with that, he walked past his shadow and placed his hand on the lone book. His shadow smiled, a smile with warmth, and nodded. With a flash of light, it, and the book, dissolved and reformed into something new. It resembled the shadow when it attacked, but it was somehow, calmer. It still wore the brown cloak and chains, but the hood was down, revealing a head with short black hair and a plain white mask covering the face, no features except two eye holes that showed a pair of calm blue eyes. The books were gone from the chains, and they were now wrapped securely around its arms, the ends of the chains hanging loosely around its hands. Staring at it, he suddenly knew its name.

"Hoderi...my persona," as it faded he felt something appear in his hand...a card. That was the last thing he felt before his vision blackened and he passed out.

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><p>This fic was really done as an experiment. I wanted to write from the perspective of someone caught in the TV world, but since we already see the main characters I wanted to try it with an original character. He borrows parts of my own personality, and some other things I put in to make it interesting. Hope whoever read this enjoyed it. Drop a review to let me know if there's things you thought I could fix, or just to let me know people read my stuff, thank you very much.<p> 


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